A Grand Celebration of 5 Years of Doctor Who: Podshock

This past Saturday, the 21st of August 2010 was not only our seasonal meet up on Second Life, it also marked the 5th anniversary of the Doctor Who podcast, Doctor Who: Podshock. (We used our last meet up last May to mark the 25th anniversary of the Gallifreyan Embassy).

People from all corners of the world came together to have fun and to meet Doctor Who: Podshock hosts, correspondents, supporters, and other Doctor Who fans. As usual, Victor led the much anticipated TARDIS tours, a staple of our meet ups on Second Life in which he takes a TARDIS load of people to other Doctor Who themed areas of Second Life. This time, he even allowed me to pilot a Jon Pertwee style TARDIS for one trip. It was very exciting indeed.

The TARDIS Tours took us to Who Island which had a replica of Stonehenge with 'underhenge' which we discovered the Pandorica (and it opened)! We also got to see the console room seen in this year's 'The Lodger' episode and as always the tour concluded in the Doctor Who Museum. The virtual museum chronicles all of Doctor Who throughout its long history.

After a short break, the event continued with the usual party in Cardiff (Katrina) this time decorated with a Stonehenge theme. The fantastic Edward Pearce returned to spin tunes once again in his DJ talents. We all danced and chatted it up (remember you can speak in Second Life).

More and more people started to arrive. So much so that we eventually brought down the sim. Yes, we all got booted off and couldn't log back into the area until the system reset itself. In that short time, I was a house guest, or was I a TARDIS guest of Nik and Emily along with Terry? I jokingly blamed Terry for the crashing the sim because it happened right after she left for a bit. She must had been holding it all together.

At the end of the evening, once again those that were still there gathered around for a group photo on stage.

But wait, this time it did not end there. This time we were doing something more. This time we had set up an Aftershock party. Yes, an after-hours party for those that wanted to continue or for those that may have missed the fun earlier.

About an hour after the dance party concluded in Katrina, we gathered there again for a short TARDIS hop back to Who Island and the party continued in New New York. It continued on there until... well I am not sure. I left sometime after midnight (EDT) and it was still going. After the success of this Aftershock party, it is likely to continue in our upcoming meet ups.

All in all it was another great event, another great meet up. Despite bringing down the sim, it all went over very well. Once again we owe so much to Victor1st Mornington ( @vic1st ), not only for leading the TARDIS Tours, but making sure it comes together. Of course he has the help of the others involved with the Doctor Who Experience in the land of Katrina on Second Life as well as the respective land owners of the places we visit in the TARDIS Tours and of Who Island and New New York for our Aftershock party.

Huge thanks for all those that attended. From Doctor Who: Podshock were Correspondents Dave "AC" Cooper ( @daveac ) and Ian Bisset ( @The6thDoctor ) (both also of the Cultdom Collective Podcast), Greame Sheridan ( @The2ndDoctor ) (also of 2nd Doctor's Podcast and the Professor How podcast), along with myself ( @LouisTrapani ) of course. Also present were Doctor Who: Podshock supportersTerry Lightfoot ( @terrylightfoot ) with Nik Hewitt ( @nikhewitt ) (of the Dirty WHOers podcast), Perry Gerakines ( @pgerak ), Helen Lesser ( @Rowenth ), Randall Thomas, and Lewis Baily (of the Happiness Patrol podcast). We also had one of the original members of the Gallifreyan Embassy, Andrea Ornstein present this time. Of course there were many others there and other podcasts represented, I can't name everyone here, it would go on far too long. Thank you all for attending.

Here's to another 5 years of Doctor Who: Podshock! We will be back for another meet up on Second Life to celebrate the anniversary of Doctor Who itself in three months on Saturday, the 20th of November 2010. Mark your calendars. See you there!

On a related note, we now have a new gallery on our site here dedicated to our meet ups on Second Life.